Rehoboth Fish Meal And Oil Plant Vs Additional Commissioner (Madras High Court)
The writ petition was filed seeking a direction to the appellate authority to take on record an appeal that had been filed manually through Speed Post on 06.01.2026 and dispose of it in terms of earlier directions issued by the Court. The dispute pertains to the levy of GST at 5% on the supply of fish meal.
Earlier, in WP(MD) No.16770 of 2019, this Court had held that fish meal was exempt from payment of tax. However, that decision was reversed by a Division Bench in W.A.(MD) Nos.112 to 116 of 2022 by order dated 03.11.2023. A Special Leave Petition against the Division Bench judgment is presently pending before the Supreme Court.
In the present case, a show cause notice dated 19.01.2024 was issued demanding GST at 5% on fish meal. The assessment order dated 22.04.2024 confirmed the demand. The petitioner initially challenged the assessment order by filing a writ petition, and by order dated 02.07.2024, this Court directed the petitioner to file a statutory appeal.
In a similar matter, by order dated 26.07.2024 in WP(MD) No.17418 of 2024, this Court directed that while filing the appeal, the petitioner should pay 10% statutory pre-deposit for all items except fish meal. Pursuant to that order, the petitioner filed an appeal on 29.01.2025 without paying the statutory pre-deposit, as the demand related only to fish meal. However, the appeal was rejected on the ground of non-payment of statutory pre-deposit. The present writ petition was therefore filed seeking a direction to take the appeal on record.
Want to Read the Complete Judgment?
You have read the free case summary. Unlock the full judgment, the detailed judicial reasoning and the downloadable PDF, along with every other premium judgment on TaxGuru.
Already subscribed? Log in
One subscription covers the entire premium judgment library, not just this case.
